LADIES’ EXPRESS.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 291, 21 July 1875, Page 2

LADIES’ EXPRESS.

Tht Editor will be glad to give insertion to any local contributions from his ladyfriends that may be considered interesting in ths family circle, or to the sex generally J] :o: PARIS,—LADIES’ LETTER (from oub own cobbesfondent.) May 15. The grand institution of golden weddings is becoming abused—nothing is sacred in the eyes it is said of a pompier, and the same may be remarked of other ordinary callings also. When a tradesman now wishes to puff up—not himself, but his wares, he issues letters of invitation for tho public to assist at his golden wedding, which means to witness the successful working of the machinery of small profits and quick returns ; of silks at fabulously low prices—till the bill be made out, of Cashmeres at fifty per ] cent, below prime cost, and great bargains in general, as the consequence of buying up a bankrupt’s stock. All this is shabby, and may have contributed to sadden Comte do Waldeck’s latter days and made him renounce his intention of celebrating a second goldeu wedding with his second wife; he has died full of years—llo, and of honors, for every one esteemed the sturdy centenarian, so prim and so venerable, by giving him engravings to clean, that required no touchings, or patronised his bijou theatre in a court yard—called a cite in French, and where his youngest son, aged 24, was first fiddle. He was an artist by profession, and loved to paint natural scenery that no other European eye had witnessed. It is thus that at one time he drifted into the wilds of Mexico, and as a reward for his talent and to save himself from being scalped, he had to marry an Indian princess, whose trousseau consisted of some matting, a few skins; several bows and arrows, and 150 scalps—many young couples commenced life with less —having had nothing at all. Despite this union he married twice subsequently, had no fear-of a divorce, counting perhaps on the chronically bad relations between his bride’s country and that of his own by adoption —France. Not so poor Professor Tiu-Tun-Lin, who now lies in Mazas prison on a charge of bigamy. ■ He married a few years ago a very pretty French girl, to whom he was giving lessons in the language of the Celestials ; not treating her well, her friends ascertained he had been already married, having left his girl behind him in Canton. T. T. Lin was well up in all the learning of his country, and supplied no end of subjects for romances about China. He was an invaluable archaeologist, and was ever prepared to trace the origin of all things of his Vaterland, and years before the was created, according to the Usslier chronology; his last feat related to spectacles, and he produced a piece of old crockery, with the figures of mandarins, looking apparently at fish fights, through spectacles, which were kept in position by strings coiling over the ear, with weights at the end, just like the cords of a Swiss cuckoo clock. I nearly forgot to add that painting is calculated to enable one to graduate in the seven ages of man, thus Titian was 99 years old when he was gathered to his fathers; Claude Lorrain 82, Teniers 80, Greuze 79, David 77, Leonardi de Vinci 75, Poussin and Reynolds 71, Michael Angelo was 90 when he died. Other notabilities not destined for longf vity —the Deputies; they have been a long time doomed to death, and are fated to die ; they themselvtes are about pronouncing their own floom, which is considered to be as great a sacrifice as establishing a constitution. The beautiful weatl;er we enjoy must have something to do with” these political bonbons, and doctors say the span of life is intimately connected with meterology. When the deputies left for their vacation, the terrible sullen sky and North East zephyrs had settled down on us like the old man of the mountain on the backs of certain voyagers, no more to he shaken off than a poor relation, or a dun after the twentieth asking for a settlement of his little bill; well, the proverbial die-hards have returned, and are the first to throw their hats up in the air and demand their extinction; they merit to be elected senators, and in any case their decision is like water iu the desert, and received with as much gratitude as the new fruits and vegetables which are strongly competing with casmetics in imparting a spring look to wintry visages. One of those statisticians, who has neithi r a soul for beauty, or poetry, however selected, has calculated, that for every inch of the refreshing rain fall, that comes down as gently as mercy, the asparagus diminishes three sous the bundle, and the peas five sous the quart; just think of the position of the lady who may be mated to such a man. Were it not for the Prussians there would be no excitement at all in public events, we would be straight on the road to the millenium; the French have no more idea of fighting thali quakers, which explains why they are regarded as belligerents by their conquerors ; if the dial of time cannot be put back, neither can it be advanced; the skeleton in the French cupboard is the necessity of paying a return visit to Berlin; the when aud the how must be left to time and chance, which happens to everything, meanwhile we are enjoying our cakes and ale, sending urbi and orbi benedictions everywhere, the country lying around

the Spree excepted ; indeed the only shadow falling across our chamber door is' another of those ministerial letters enjoining all officials in the name of France and humanity, to be watchful that no individual be deprived of his light—that is, to live till he be dead, and not to inter him before the “ vital spark has fled of late this phrase is not much used, and it is best to bring it occasionally to the front for the benefit of the rising generation, which in France is now progressing at a very high rate, some 15 per cent, higher than during the last two years; everything you see is being done to vex the Prussians, even the revenue is surpassing in fecundity the best days of the Empire, and instead of laying on, the fighting will now be limited to the taking off of taxes; the agitation in this end has already set in, and in the true spirit of charity, by one interest pointing out thn advantage of making other ' interests carry its burdens; then again geographical studies are the order of the day, there are special lectures, special books on this branch of useful knowledge, so that in the future Frenchmen will not be indebted to the bulletins of their enemies for accurate information of theit own country. This quick march towards material and military resuscitation, for it is no crime to repair national disasters, does not absorb all attention; the. Fine Arts are cultivated with a like eagerness, the present exhibition of paintings by living artists in the Palais de I Industrie is a proof; it may be considered a successful display, because it resembles its' ’predecessors, and those who have no taste for what is lovely and talented can enjoy the moving to and fro, in close column order, of the delighted and fashionable crowd ; as a general observation, big pictures are less numerous than usual, which is an advantage; there is too much for the eye in them to take in, and the difficulty is increased to remember their subjects. These kind of paintings are excellent when hung high, on the ceiling of a church or the dome of an institution; nothing eo charming as a little cabinet picture that your eyes can almost touch while embracing, and while the imagination revels in a hide-and-go-seek chase after concentrated beauties; but this is sinning on ’the side of disquisition and which would prove as refreshing as a charity sermon and its thirteen heads in favor of indigent roomkeepers ; as a notorious proof of artistic talent at large the number of pictures rejected equals those admitted, and the “ deelined with thanks ” have opened an exhibition on 'their own account with, of course, no connection with the establishment over the way.